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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bound · cold · mark · pitcher · chair · wake · spring · rock

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — an illness
  7. chair — a leader
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bound — obliged
  10. spring — of water
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. mark — a trace
  15. bound — certain
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rock — a stone
  20. rock — music
  21. mark — a grade
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bound — tied together

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com